DC’s ‘Suicide Squad’: Everything We Know So Far

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one that’s as expansive as it is popular. Starting with 2008’s Iron Man, the MCU helped spawn a whole movement of superhero movies. DC/Warner is only now beginning to catch up, with 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicekicking things off. It could be argued though that Suicide Squad is the studio’s most anticipated release, indicated by the 20 million-plus views the first trailer has netted since it debuted this last summer.

We’re still not quite at the August 5, 2016 release, and between now and then, we’ve had X-Men: Apocalypseto tide us over. That still doesn’t mean we can’t start speculating all the same as to what’s in store. Many have said that Suicide Squad could be DC’s equivalent of Guardians of the Galaxy, and based on what we’ve seen so far, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if that prediction came true. Here’s everything we’ve learned from the numerous articles, rumors, and footage collected over the vast reaches of the internet.

1. The trailers

Two full-length trailers for Suicide Squad have been released in the U.S. so far. The first was shown at Comic-Con last summer, while the second premiered on The CW on January 19. More recently, an international trailer with a few seconds of new footage emerged online. Finally, a new “Blitz” trailer debuted at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. All of the trailers can be seen below.

Suicide Squad Comic-Con Trailer:

Suicide Squad Trailer – Worst. Heroes. Ever:

Suicide Squad – International trailer #1:

Suicide Squad – Blitz trailer – MTV Movie Awards:

Suicide Squad – International trailer #2:

Suicide Squad – “Harley Therapy” TV spot for ESPY Awards:

Suicide Squad – Official Comic-Con Soundtrack Remix [Update, 7/25/16]

2. The premise

Source: DC Comics

In the comic books, the Suicide Squad is an elite team of villains and antiheroes conscripted into service by the U.S. government. Team members are outfitted with an exploding microchip embedded beneath their skin to incentivize them against a relapse into misbehavior, operating as a team that gives the government limited culpability should anything go south. The movie will follow that premise to a tee, although we’re not sure what or who exactly they’ll be fighting once assembled.

3. The Joker

Source: Warner Bros.

The most talked-about aspect of Suicide Squad by far has been Jared Leto’s role as the Joker. Heath Ledger’s unforgettable performance in The Dark Knight is a tough act to follow, but early rumors tell us that Leto has gone full method actor in the face of this. The reports are, well, judge for yourself. Will Smith claims he and Leto have yet to have a conversation out of character off-set, Leto allegedly mailed a dead rat to co-star Margot Robbie, and on top of all that, he himself described the descent into the role as akin to “giving birth through my prick hole.”

All signs point to the new Joker being equally as unsettling as Ledger’s, although there’s been a fair amount of controversy concerning the costume choices. The latest promo photos show Leto shirtless and tattooed, adorned in a purple leather trench coat. In the end, it may look cheesy in stills, but we still have yet to see the new costume in action, so we’ll withhold judgment for now at least.

[Update, 4/22/16: Jared Leto recently commented on the potential origin story of his Joker, talking about how the character “walked in a completely new direction. I think we knew that we had to do that. It was important to do that.” Perhaps we’ll finally see a Joker that has a fleshed-out back-story?]

4. The full cast

Jared Leto isn’t the only star to grace the cast of Suicide Squad. As of now, here are the main players (from left to right in the photo above):

Adam Beach as Slipknot

Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang

Cara Delevingne as Enchantress

Karen Fukuhara as Katana

Joel Kinneman as Rick Flagg

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Will Smith as Deadshot

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc

Jay Hernandez as El Diablo

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller (not pictured)

It’s a decidedly larger cast of main characters than either Guardians of the Galaxy or The Avengers and, as such, could face some problems with scattered focus among so many heroes. What’s more likely to happen will be closer attention paid to Smith and Robbie, with everything else extending out from there to the other Squad members. Another cast photo obtained by USA Today can be seen below.

5. Cameos from other DC characters

Source: Warner Bros.

Coming off the heels of Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad will release into a fully established DC movie-verse. Warner/DC, in turn, will look to emphasize the shared universe every chance it gets, shoehorning in a collection of other characters throughout the movie. Already, we’ve seen Batman in the full trailer, with reports telling us that we’ll also be seeing Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Ike Barinholtz as Hugo Strange (since refuted as untrue), and Raymond Olubawale as King Shark.

[Update, 5/24/16: Per a source cited by Batman-News, Batman’s role in ‘Suicide Squad’ will primarily consist of a couple of scenes with Deadshot and Harley Quinn — so don’t expect Batman to battle the entire Suicide Squad — at least, not in this film.]

[Update, 7/29/16: An updated cast list sent out by the studio lists Ezra Miller as the Flash, hinting at an appearance from the fastest man alive. It’s unclear what capacity he’ll appear in, but it’s the first we’re hearing of another Justice League member joining the film]

6. The director

Tim P. Whitby / Stringer, Getty Images

Suicide Squad will represent the first movie not directed by Zack Snyder in the new DC movie-verse, with David Ayer taking the reins. Ayer’s past work includes Training Day, Fury, End of Watch, and The Fast and the Furious, so he’s certainly no stranger to the action genre. Whether he’ll be up to the task of writing and directing a high-profile comic book film, though, remains to be seen. DC/Warner is trusting Ayer with a whole lot of responsibility here, so clearly the studio higher-ups are confident in his abilities.

7. This one’s going to be weird

Source: Twitter

If the behavior of the cast is any indicator, Suicide Squad is going to be one of the stranger comic book movies out there. We saw a taste of this on Instagram and Twitter earlier this year, when the cast appeared in a real-life rendition of “Harley’s Tattoo Parlour,” where Margot Robbie (in costume) and company all gave each other matching “SKWAD” tattoos. Combined with Jared Leto’s bizarre behavior on-set (he allegedly sent co-star Jim Parrack on a mission to spray-paint bushes black in addition to the whole “mailing a dead rat” stunt), it’s pretty clear that Suicide Squad will be anything but your run-of-the-mill DC or Marvel movie.

8. The posters

Ahead of a new trailer that is due to be released on January 19, director David Ayer revealed a new poster for the movie via his Twitter account.

Other posters dedicated to individual Suicide Squad members were also shared on various social media platforms by the actors who play them. You can see all the character posters at the official Suicide Squad Twitter page. [Update, 1/19/2016: New movie poster added.]

[Update, 5/11/16: Another image of Harley Quinn and the Joker was revealed in Rolling Stone (see below).]